Craig’s Top In 2014

This has been a gorgeous year for albums and one that makes this list tough. This is the seventh version of this list, so go easy on me if your favorite is not on this list, but do let me know what I may have missed this year. I love hearing new music.

I have always had a soft-spot for The Amity Affliction. Perhaps I am drawn to music promoting an anti-suicide message or dealing with mental disease. Whatever it is, there is something about their brand of melodic post-hardcore that does things to my soul and makes me fall in-love with them. Plus, being able to scream “Hey death, get fucked” is always a perk.

4. The Xcerts – There Is Only You

There is only The Xcerts and their beautiful angst driven Scottish accents. In a year that I was haunted by a terrible break-up, hearing this album towards the end of the year served me well to come to terms with the end of the relationship, and finally be able to let go of a burden that had been weighing me down.

3. Jeremy Loops – Trading Change

South Africa may be plagued by corruption, crime and power failures – but Jeremy Loops never fails. I truly came to appreciate this album I was stuck in the dark, during a power outage, with an old Sony Walkman and a copy of Jeremy Loops’s CD. It got me through a dark time, literally, and kept me smiling and dancing despite the injury I inflicted upon myself falling over things in the dark.

2. David Guetta – Listen

Shocking entry, but there is no denying the brilliance of this album. The emotion that is present on this album is impossible to ignore. You’re left feeling moved after he delivers the closing song “Whisperer” featuring Sia. In a world where EDM is all about bass drops and uncreative progression, Davd Guetta’s Listen is a game-changer.

Do I need to explain this? The Ghost Inside can never fail, and they once again delivered an album that is truly brilliant. Melodic hardcore and inspiring lyrics makes this an album that is almost impossible to stay calm to and even more difficult to tear yourself away from. Every aspect of the album resonated with some part of my soul in ways that are almost inexplicable.